Noir
by elomelo
Summary: During a trip to Paris, to forget the murder of his family, Light becomes involved in a series of vampiric murders. With the law baffled and his friends unsure of his mental state, he can only turn to Noir - detective and vampire hunter. LxLight AU.


_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note. All lyrics, quotes and excerpts are credited._

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**N O I R  
**by: **elomelo**

**Thank you to:** Endless Snow and biTTEN.x.cRiMSON for all their ideas, help, support and patience - without them, _**Noir**_ would not be possible.

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**- - - Prologue - - -**

"It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things."  
_— Lemony Snicket (Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid)_

When he got home that evening, he expected it to be just like any other; his mother frying his favourite dumplings all the while tittering about eating well, Sayu cooing over her favourite _bishounen_ from the too-loud television show, his father finally being home for once and smiling at him over the daily paper – the normalcy of the average, albeit slightly loud, Yagami household. So when he unlocked the door and stepped inside, he was surprised to find the house oddly quiet and dark. Mrs. Yagami was a stickler when it came to such things, constantly turning off any lights she felt were not in use, but even this was unusual for her.

"Hey, anyone home?" His tired voice echoed off the walls as he loosened his tie and slipped off his shoes. Sayu's worn pink sandals, the ones she took to wearing everyday, sat in their haphazard manner by Sachiko's conservative loafers. They smelled of recent wearing and Light wrinkled his nose at the corn-chip smell. He was a sanitary, well-groomed creature by nature – a rather _obsessive_ creature, for that matter - and how the rest of his family survived their drop-and-go, smelly ways was beyond him.

Yawning, he shed his bag and jacket, and headed into the kitchen for a large glass of cold milk. That always woke him up. It had been a typical, boring day at school – except for the weirdest daydream about a black notebook that could kill….

Twilight was fading quickly into the dark clutches of night, and the house seemed to get darker by the second. The darkness was relaxing for his tired eyes so he didn't bother to turn on the lights, settling for the momentary stark yellow when he opened the fridge. The carton of milk lacked its lid and the remnants of a hurriedly swiped milk trail down the side were quite obvious– 'Sayu, honestly' – so he grabbed the next best thing: a bottle of juice that practically screamed a 'Happy Happy Drink Drink' in bright pink letters. He was about to close the fridge when he heard the dripping. It was a steady _drip_, _drip, drip – _not too unlike water – coming from behind him. He turned around, thinking it was the leaky kitchen sink faucet, when he saw the man standing there, holding the limp form a dark-haired girl. Her eyes were closed and her neck was a mess of blood and torn flesh.

The juice bottle dropped to the ground and shattered.

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It was a fairly warm night but he pulled the blanket around himself tightly, shaking his head when the police officer offered him a leather jacket. It would have been warmer but the yellow blanket, soft, worn, smelled of Sayu. He gritted his teeth so tightly he thought his jaw would break. He sat on the bumper of the ambulance, watching the flashing lights and frantic murmurs of the men and woman around him.

"Just keep talking, and don't move that arm too much, alright?"

Light nodded as the paramedic gave the bandaging one last pull and tried not to jerk when she gave him a quick squeeze on his shoulder. "T-thank you. Mimi-san."

"Eh, how'd you know?" she smiled, putting away her equipment with professional speed, "Psychic?"

"Nametag."

"Oh. You're quite observant, Yagami-san."

"Light. Just call me Light," he whispered hoarsely.

"Alright, Light. Then it's just Mimi for me, too, alright?"

He swallowed and looked at the road, busy with police cars and rushing people. He felt so detached, so indifferent, to the chaos around him.

"Light, you have to keep talking--"

"Yagami? Light Yagami?" The boy in question looked up at the source of the voice; a man in a faded blue suit offered him a hand and a thin smile. "I'm Tota Matsuda, a-"

Mimi cleared her throat, looking pointedly at the man. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm Tota Matsuda, from _Keishichō_." He shook hands with her. "I'm here to talk to Light Yagami."

"Matsuda-san, I don't think that's such a good idea. Light's been through a lot and he needs his rest."

"I won't keep him long."

"I'm fine with questions," Light said in a quiet voice, "My—I've heard about you, Matsuda-san. From…my father." Indeed, he had; Matsuda was the foolhardy but dedicated young officer Yagami senior had worked with on more than one occasion. The older man spoke about said officer as if he were a second son, albeit a rasher, less intelligent child.

Mimi excused herself politely not before giving him a small smile and Matsuda a look of warning.

"He was a good person. So were Mrs. Yagami and Sayu-chan. I'm truly sorry for your loss." Matsuda joined him on the bumper, keeping his distance. "I won't let them get away with this."

"'_An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.'_"

The young officer blinked at the sudden change of language.

"Mahatma Ghandi. He said that revenge is fruitless, never changes anything. And only makes things worse. Revenge makes us lose whatever we have left."

"Justice isn't revenge, Light-san."

"It won't make them come back." He hugged the blanket tighter around his shoulders, ignoring the jolt of pain it sent up his left arm.

"No. No, it won't. But whoever did this has to face the consequences."

A beat passed. "So you're plan on getting them?"

The young officer smiled bitterly. "We'll sure as hell try."

"I want to help."

"Light-san…that's not possible."

"I've helped my father on cases before. Like the _Stopwatch Murders_."

"Oh. Wow. I didn't know that. That's very impressive."

"So why-?"

"Conflict of interest, Light-san. You're his son and the sole survivor of…I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to come out like that."

"It's okay. And I understand the situation but I'd treat it like any other case."

Matsuda stood up, brushing non-existent dust off his pants. "No, Light-san, you wouldn't."

"Then why are you-?"

"I'm not going to be investigating this, either." He gave Light a sad smile. "Yagami-san was like a father to me. He never gave up on me even when the higher-ups thought I was a total failure." He paused. "If I ever found who did this, I don't know _what_ I'd do to them."

They watched a police car pull out onto the main street and drive off into the haze of streetlights.

"Then why are you questioning me?"

"I'm not interrogating you, Light-san. That's at the police station. I requested to be dispatched here. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Well, I'm fine. Your job's done." He didn't mean it to come out as acidly as he did but at that moment, he didn't care. He wanted to curl up unto himself and just disappear. His head hurt – even though he denied this to Mimi – and his body ached with a dull pain.

Matsuda looked at him, then at Mimi who just arrived with a pile of blankets.

"Matsuda-san, I've just been informed of your current position so there's no reason for me to allow you talk to Light any further."

"I understand," the officer nodded, noting that Light refused to look at him, "Thank you." He turned to leave but froze when a bloodcurdling scream rang out from the Yagami house.

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1) _Keishichō_: The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. A little authenticity never hurt. Ooh, it's finally here. Noir is a pretty big project I've kept on the low-down but it's out. Chapter one is almost done and will be posted in a few days.

Thanks to _**Endless Snow**_ for beta'ing the first portion of this. She's part of the twosome that helped me with this – she's very talented so be sure to give her a visit.

Please review and let me know what you think! (Psst, reviewing often makes me update faster ;D)

Cheers,

**elomelo**


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